


you always said its not too late for me [i'll listen now]

by kwjz



Series: peachy werewolf au [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Urban Fantasy, Angst, Bang Chan-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Kim Woojin-centric, Other, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, also ?? just fyi but chan gets stuck under a piece of furniture, anyways welcome to pt. 2 of my peachy werewolf au, each mem has a diff name for the other mems, idk who all (also) gets uncomfy w reading abt that but. yea., loooooots of pet names !!, oh my!, there's uhhh talk of blood n broken bones if that makes ppl uncomfy, where wooj is so excited to have a wolf boyf to cherish n love, wooj gives chan 2 pet names bc he's special
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-23 22:04:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20238565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kwjz/pseuds/kwjz
Summary: Chan is sleeping upstairs in the eldest's room when Felix and the others get back. Woojin and the partners who stayed are all seated in the living room, waiting. When the rest come in they immediately sense the somber mood and their joy at being back home diminishes to worry."Woojin? Minho? What happened?" Felix addresses the two eldest in the room, falling back into his coven leader role with ease. The rest sit on the couch, watching as Changbin and Jisung hug each other tightly, watching as Minho and Woojin exchange a glance. The oldest witch is the one who starts."We had an- an incident earlier," Minho starts, watching as the coven members tense. Felix frowns."What do you mean, an incident?"In which the coven realizes how much their beloved wolf is suffering, and Woojin sets out to try and make it right for everyone involved, but most especially Chan, who deserves to feel safe and loved without any doubt.





	you always said its not too late for me [i'll listen now]

**Author's Note:**

> this takes place after my previous fic in this au, but you don't need to read it to understand what happens here....yea, mind the warnings, n i'll see y'all lovelies in the end notes <3

Chan feels guilty.

He knows it's ridiculous, seeing as how each and every member of his coven, his pack, have gone out of their way to show him that anything and everything is possible for him here, including being able to wake up in the mornings and go to sleep at night feeling safe.

Still, that irritating demon in the back of his mind that will take centuries to erase is there, telling him he's bothering the coven, especially Woojin, with needing a just a bit more than everyone else. Woojin insists that it's not more, just different. The oldest points out that Seungmin can't have anyone in his room, his safe space, without his permission, especially when he’s asleep. Hyunjin needs to have Minho cast heavy magick on him so he can sleep a few nights each moon cycle; the hybrid struggles with bloodlust tendencies and has nightmares that keep him awake for days at a time when the moon is full. Changbin gets triggered by blue clothes, so they've eliminated the colour from all their wardrobes almost entirely. 

Even Felix, their coven leader, has sensory issues and occasionally has to send images and flashes of emotion through their link instead of words. He has a nest under a table in the witchs’ workplace down in the basement, with a weighted blanket and snacks always on the ready. No one's perfect; the cracks are there, the pieces needing to be held with kindness, patience, and most importantly, love.

Woojin's are few and in between, but they exist. Chan's only experienced one of them personally, and it frightened him so badly he avoided the eldest for a week. It was right after the coven took him in, finding him half alive on the side of the road and Woojin, having a bad day, tried to take a bite out of him.

You'd never know the two eldest had a rocky start and an alarmingly terrible first meeting given how close they are. It's part of the reason Chan is sitting on the window seat in the sunroom downstairs, watching Changbin and Seungmin run around in wolf form while Felix and Minho hang up clothes on a clothing line. Hyunjin is out shopping with Woojin. 

Felix had set him here, ignoring his complaints about wanting to help, to be useful, claiming that the sun would burn his skin and all his proper clothes to cover him are needing to be dried first. Chan's decked out in baseball shorts and someone's tank, showing off milky white skin that makes him appear more like a vampire than the wolf that he is.

Chan hates this. He hates being unable to help with simple tasks; hates that they don't let him. He's tried doing laundry, but the big buckets he can only carry so far before he feels faint; the same goes for when he tries to hang clothes, he has to take many breaks in between a single item. Dusting resurfaces his allergies. Cooking has knives, and everytime he sees one he either wants to throw it across the room or use it. Even reorganizing things gets him distracted to where he's later found building a structure out items or reading the books he was supposed to shelve.

"Darling, you don't have to be useful to be needed. To be wanted," Felix had said about half a century ago, when the wolf had been found crying in the kitchen, surrounded by broken plates and pans. The coven leader had wrapped him up in a blanket, having silenced the older by hitting a long, long ingrained thought in his mind for centuries. They couldn't undo the damage, but maybe they could work with it, teach its bearer to change his way of thinking over time.

Seungmin yips, bringing Chan back to the present. Hyunjin and Woojin are back, carrying bags of groceries. Before he can even process what he's doing, the wolf lurches to his feet and hurries outside, heading straight for Woojin. 

He trips. Someone yells, something hits the ground with a thump, and then he's being held upright by twp arms wrapped around his torso, cradling him against a chest, keeping him steady. He sniffs. It's Woojin.

Chan looks up to find Woojin looking down at him with a fond expression that twists his gut into knots. He flushes, and he knows it's obvious when he hears a few jeers off to the side of where the two eldest are entangled.

"Sorry," Chan mumbles, trying to pull out of Woojin's embrace but the older won't let him go. Instead he's scooped up so he perches on the vampire's left hip, like a child. Nothing about Woojin, from his grip, to his kind eyes, to the way he squeezes Chan’s thighs gently makes him feel like a child though. He feels safe like this. 

Seungmin's gathering the remaining groceries that were set down. Even in hasty speed, the eldest makes sure everything is safe before he carries on. "Good thing you didn't have the eggs," the younger wolf jokes, earning a few chuckles from the group. 

Normally Chan would whine or growl playfully at Seungmin. Instead he curls his nose in Woojin's neck and takes in an inhale. He's been feeling extra needy lately, as some of his old, old "friends" would have said. Woojin senses that their beloved wolf is feeling off, though, and doesn't push, just adjusting his grip and bouncing the other ever so slightly. 

The rest of the coven goes back to their tasks, but Woojin and Chan remain in place. The vampire is watching the wolf, trying to catch his eye but being avoided.

"Channie? Love, can you look at me?" Felix glances over from where he's hanging up a few shirts, but otherwise doesn't comment. There's an unspoken truth in the coven that Chan trusts Woojin the most. They all know that their beloved wolf has a lot of guilt built up in that head of his, so they never make jokes about it or acknowledge it. 

They don't mind. They don't like it, but they don't mind. Just as Woojin reminds everyone that their needs, no matter how silly seeming or guilt riddling they are, are valid, they remind each other that for Chan, whose previous coven abused him, they will let him go to whoever he needs, when he needs it. Most of the time its Woojin, because Woojin makes their wolf feel safest. Sometimes it's Felix, who had the most repore with him before he joined the coven. Other times its Jeongin, who's the youngest but always knows how to help.

If Chan, who almost never voices his needs, is wanting Woojin to hold him in his arms and hum quietly in his ear out in the garden, who are they to deny him of that?

Woojin, as per usual when Chan doesn’t have a verbal response to his questions or avoids eye contact, doesn't press Chan's avoidance. He carries the younger over to the hammock, giving the wolf plenty of time to voice any complaints, before dumping him into the ropes. 

Chan lets out a surprised laugh. "Woojin!" The laugh turns into a small, excited scream when the eldest soon follows, vampire crushing wolf, encasing the younger in warmth and a solid, solid form to grip, to hold, to lay against and breathe. 

Felix shoos Changbin and Minho inside, deciding it might be best to let their elders have a little bit of privacy. Before he goes inside, he looks back one final time to see Woojin say something to Chan whose laying on top of the vampire, before their wolf bursts into laughter, covering half of his face with a hand. He smiles, feeling a pleasant sort of tingle race up his spine at the sound, finally turning to go into their house to help with the next set of tasks.

The coven leader does leave the door open. Even if they aren't the one he needs, they can still be apart of it from a careful distance.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A couple days later, Chan feels the urge to curl up in Woojin's bed, cuddling with the older and feeling all the tension leave his body in the warmth and comfort. Deciding to be brave, he wraps himself in a blanket, grabbing his phone and charger as an afterthought, and heads upstairs in search of his home.

He doesn't find it. Instead he finds all three witches upstairs chatting in the hallway. They look up when he climbs the last stair to pant at the top.

"Channie!" It's Minho who calls, but Hyunjin who rushes over to check and see that he's okay. He hums, brushing the younger off. "What are you doing up here?"

"Come to visit us?" Felix asks, his words teasing but eyes filled with a hope that struggles to hide. Chan, the ever people pleaser, caves, if only because he doesn't smell Woojin and decides, you know, maybe someone else can help. 

"Yea, was just looking for someone to be with…." He trails off, feeling awkward, especially since all three witches are gaping at him with some varying degrees of awe and wonder. He nervously tugs at the edges of his blanket. "But I can- I can go, I just. I was looking for- for Woojin but if- if you guys are busy I can-" He trails off his stammering to take in a huge gulp of air. 

His pause is all the witches need to come back to their senses. They're all apologizing at once, saying they were just surprised, and asking if he wanted to cuddle in one of their rooms. This leads to the four of them laying down in a blanket fortress, curled up amongst limbs and cushion, the set up making a mess of Felix’s room. The coven leader doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, he hasn’t stopped smiling, and giggles when Chan wiggles around on the blankets before getting comfortable.

Chan hums in content from his place squished between Minho and Felix. Hyunjin is spread across all three of them, careful to leave the eldest space if he starts to feel trapped. 

He's not sure what he feels. He thinks its good, but he also knows he’s usually a terrible judge initially if something bothers him. Chan puts those thoughts aside, relaxing into the warmth, into his coven members, his partners.

As the wolf drifts off, he listens to Hyunjin and Felix begin to bicker about some spell while Minho remains quiet, running a gentle hand through his hair and lulling him into sleep.It's not deep by any means. He startles awake a few times, once when Hyunjin leaves, and another when Felix leaves and gets replaced by Jisung, whose exhaustion can be smelled from downstairs. The younger plasters himself all over the wolf, ignoring Minho's rebuke. You'd think he was a wolf if not for the way there was no heart beating from his chest.

Chan wakes from his disturbed sleep when he hears Woojin enter the house several hours later. None of the other two werewolves are as adept as he is to picking up on scents and vibrations and matching them to individuals, but they aren't missing out on much. Or maybe they would enjoy it, but he just hates it, especially when Minho notices him tense and asks him what's wrong.

"Nothing," the wolf replies, stretching, but otherwise not moving an inch. He knows the eldest will eventually make his way up and find this mess. "Woojin's home." 

Jisung yawns. "Yea, he's updating Felix on how today went." Chan didn't need to know, but he appreciates what the vampire is doing all the same. Talk of the day reminds the wolf of all the work that's piling up on his plate, and he whines, squishing himself back under the covers with a huff. 

Minho laughs. "What are you thinking about Channie?" The witch's voice is so soft and commanding that Chan almost starts drooling, but he stops himself in time. Thankfully neither of his partners laying in the mess can smell arousal like werewolves can.

It's only a few more minutes before there's a knock at the door, and Woojin pokes his head inside.

"Hello my loves," the eldest says warmly, walking inside to laugh at Jisung's failed attempt to get up and greet the older vampire, his legs tangled in blankets only to fall back on the floor in a heap. "Careful Sungie."

"Hey Woojin!" Jisung rightens himself so he can properly hug him. "Someone's missed you." His words are directed at a lump on the floor in the middle of what partially remains of a blanket fortress. Minho's laying down on the torn down side, reading something on his phone. He smiles, and accepts a kiss from Woojin.

"Hey Woojinnie."

"Hey yourself." Woojin then addresses the lump. "Channie? Love?" There's a rumble, and some shuffling before the top of a head peeks out, followed by a pair of eyes that light up when they see whose crouching down. 

"Woojin," Chan whines, and Woojin laughs again, carefully making his way into the space between the last upright wall and Chan's form. He settles himself, dragging Chan still wrapped in a blanket over to lay on his chest, and lets out a sigh of contentment. This is nice. 

Jisung leaves, but Minho stays. Woojin's surprised, seeing as he would have expected the oldest witch to want to go do other things, but he makes no sign of having anywhere else to be. 

They all three lay like this in silence before Seungmin and Changbin burst in in wolf form, and tear the room and blanket fortress apart with their roughhousing. Minho chases them out, waving his hands and yelling, while Woojin and Chan laugh together from under the collapsed structure. 

Chan thinks that if this is what it’s like to spend time with the coven, he wants more of it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Woojin can tell that Chan is ignoring him. He figures, at first, that the wolf is embarrassed about needing to be around him, but then he goes and snuggles with the witches for half the day, seemingly fine after. Then he wonders if its him, maybe he's been not aligning his paths with the younger. But no, he's approached Chan a few times only to be walked away from or turned down.

That's why he concludes on the fourth day that he's being avoided, and he doesn't like it. He knows that Hyunjin has noticed, because the hybrid notices everything, and so does Jeongin, if only because the wolf has been hanging off the vampire daily. The rest of the coven welcomes Chan's willingness to cuddle with any of them at any given moment with open arms, not wanting to question it.

He doesn't want to question it either, or make it seem like he's hoarding Chan all for himself. No, Woojin is just worried. He knows, relatively speaking, where Chan is mentally at the present time, and it's not hanging off the members of the coven 24/7. It appears eerily similar to something the wolf had recounted for Woojin some time ago, where when he was feeling unsafe he'd cling to the members of his former coven so he'd know where they all were. Even if they scared him, and then later, abused him, the touch grounded him.

He shouldn't have to be scared. Chan shouldn't have to do any of these seemingly normal but were actually unhealthy coping mechanisms to try to fit in with the coven. It was a form of self harm, whether or not the wolf realized it. So Woojin watched, because he was good at observing those he loved until they were ready to talk, and waited.

A week went by. The coven came and went, enjoying the newfound kinship and familiarity that Chan was letting them all have with him. Felix started to notice that Woojin stayed away, and began to watch the wolf himself; and also began to worry because of what he saw. Chan was letting members of the coven do whatever, from manhandling him into positions to cuddle, to feeding him, to even dragging him away from whatever he was previously doing to spend time with them. He was even roped into cleaning the pond, which he did without complaints.

The last one worried Felix the most, because the next day he'd had some sweat rashes but refused to let any of them see them. He'd only found out because the older wolf's shirt had slipped up in a tickle battle and the coven leader had caught a glimpse.

Felix and Woojin didn't say anything to anyone, or to Chan, but there was an unspoken agreement in their silence that they were going to keep a closer eye on their beloved wolf.

Chan cracked a week and a half after the blanket fortress afternoon, and wow, was it hell for everyone.

Felix had taken Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin with him to visit another coven for a few days, leaving the coven to Woojin and Minho if anything were to happen. Woojin left the second day into their departure to meet with a client for a day or two a state over, leaving Minho, Chan, Changbin and Jisung with the house to themselves.

It's a big house to have four people staying in. There's three floors, not including the basement, the top floor belonging to the coven leader, the oldest witch, and Woojin, their eldest member. He may be a vampire but with his age he's built up enough tolerance for the sun (his curtains help out a ton). 

The second floor is bedrooms of every other member except for Jeongin, who sleeps in a guest bedroom on the first floor. Then there's the kitchen, a massive thing, practically the size of two bedrooms, their dining room that's almost never used, and the living room. 

Lastly they have the basement, with the witches' spell casting room, a storage room the vampires use for their coffins, and a den, filled with gaming consoles, games, and computers. There’s a tv with a stand in the middle of the biggest wall, and a couch that faces it.

The den is where Minho finds Chan after a few hours of no one being able to locate the wolf a few hours after Woojin leaves, not even with Changbin sniffing around. It reminds the witch of something the oldest wolf once said, about how the younger wolves have never had to really use their senses for much, except a bit of hunting here and there. 

It's not unusual for Chan to vanish into seemingly thin air. He needs space, and they're more than happy to give it. But he's been more open, been with them every day for over a week now that it's jarring for him to be nowhere in sight when they’re all up and looking for him.

Minho knows that Felix has been worried about him. He's seen it in the younger's body movements, and how his eyes always follow the older throughout the room. He also knows that Woojin, though hiding it well, has been very worried. He only picked up on the vampire’s concerns when Felix and the others left, and the two talked for an extensive amount of time on the porch before their departure. They'd watched Chan play with the younger wolves the whole time as they conversed, not even glancing at one another once. 

So, when both Changbin and Jisung each come downstairs to the basement where he’s working to tell him that they haven't seen Chan all day, Minho allows himself to be a little worried. He decides to let it go for another hour after Changbin came down, organizing supplies and filling baskets with herbs to carry back upstairs. He's shutting the door to the studio when hears a noise coming from the den. 

At first he thinks nothing of it, busying himself with adjusting all the baskets in his arms, but when it comes again he decides to investigate, carrying the weight with him as he goes. He expects it to be Jisung shifting furniture to play a game on their PS4, or even Changbin watching tv, but what he finds is neither of those things. 

There's two feet peeking out from behind their tv stand, covered in fluffy socks. A low hum of anxiety and panic fills the room, and Minho drops his baskets, herbs and other items spilling to the floor in his initial knee jerk reaction to the scene.

"Channie?" The form flinches, and tries to wiggle further into the cramped space. The witch gasps and hurries forwards. "Channie, wait, don't-" he hears a crunch, and knows a bone is broken before the shriek of pain confirms it. "Channie, darling, please don't do that, you're hurt, it'll only make it worse-" Minho knows he's babbling nonsense at this point, knows he's panicking and that the wolf will be able to sense it, and will feed off of it. 

But he's terrified. He's never personally seen one of Chan's worse episodes, just the aftermath that needed to be coddled and cherished. This is like walking into a fire without water, like stepping into a room full of glass with no shoes, and all magick at his fingertips stripped away until he's just a bare, baseless form filled with fear.

This fear sends him to the floor, laying down, skin to hardwood, pressing his cheek to the cold so he can see Chan's wild, panicked eyes and- blood. He can sense more than he see the blood. He can also see the unnatural angle that his arm is, from where the limb is wildly scrabbling for purchase.

How the wolf has found himself in this situation the witch doesn't know, but he quickly sends messages through the bond up to the remaining coven members upstairs, begging them to find his phone and call Woojin, and prays that somehow, they can manage to right this scarily wrong situation.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Woojin is in the midst of driving to his last client when he receives a call. The ID says its Minho, so he lets it go to voicemail, assuming it's about dinner or something else to pick up on the way home. He's just about to turn onto the interstate when the phone rings again. He sees its still Minho, so he pulls over at a gas station and answers. "Hello?"

"Woojin!" It takes him a second to realize its Jisung, through the tears and panic. "Woojin, please come home, please come home-"

"Jisung? Sungie? Baby what's wrong?" Woojin is glad he's pulled over, otherwise he would have hit a few cars at the shock of hearing his younger partner on the verge of a panic attack. "Baby you need to breathe, take in a breath. Yea, like that. Okay. Okay, now tell me what's wrong."

Jisung heaves in a breath. "It's Chan. Woojin, its really bad, there's blood and I- Minho sent me out because I started panicking-"

"Chan's hurt?" Woojin inhales sharply, heart aching and panic beginning to course through his still, dead body. "What happened?"

There's a rustling and someone saying to put it on speaker. "Hey Woojin."

"Changbin, what's wrong? What's happening with Chan?" Woojin's beginning to look around his car, deciding if there's anything valuable if he were to just leave it in this gas station's parking lot. 

"Minho found him in the den, wedged halfway behind and under the tv stand."

"He's what!?!" Woojin throws open the car door, having heard enough. He stuffs his work laptop and a few other items into a bag while Changbin and Jisung try to explain. The wolf is stuck, hurt, bleeding, with at least one bone broken, but he refuses to let any of them touch him. Minho tried to cast a calming spell and it made things worse.

"Of course it did," Woojin sighs out, shutting and locking his car once they're done explaining. "His former coven did that when he was scared." 

"Oh no…"

"Minho wouldn't know that, would he?" Jisung's voice is still shaking. Woojin hums kindly.

"No, no baby he wouldn't know that. Chan doesn't like to talk about it. Can- can you put him on the phone?"

"Minho?"

"Chan?" They both ask in the same breath. Woojin would laugh if they weren't in this situation.

"Minho. Can you get Minho on the phone?" 

"We can but- he's afraid to leave Chan, he keeps having to talk him out of trying to get out on his own."

"Just out me on speaker baby." There's more shuffling, and the sound of Jisung saying Minho's name. 

"Ok, you're on speaker." 

"Minho?" Woojin doesn't raise his voice, knowing they can turn up the volume. "You're in the den, correct?" 

"Yea, please please come home soon Woojin." There's desperation in the oldest witch's voice, and Woojin's heart breaks just a little more than it already is. It takes a lot to leave Minho this desperate, so he steels himself for what he's about to see.

"I'll be right there, just keep Channie calm for me a little longer yeah?" He hangs up, stuffing his phone into his bag and throwing it over a shoulder. He takes in a breath, and then another, and then he closes his eyes and he moves. 

He lands about fifty miles from their house, just outside the closet bigger town to them. He pants, feeling energy leave him. He knows he needs to get back as soon as possible, to help Chan and his coven, his partners, but showing up exhausted won't help any of them. He stretches and then moves again, this time right inside of their living room, scaring Changbin who was in the kitchen, rustling around for something.

"Woojin, what-"

"Gimme a sec," he pants out, trying to catch his breath back. He sets his bag on the couch and puffs, accepting a glass of water that’s handed to him. He downs it in several gulps. "Okay. Den, right?" 

Changbin's watching him with a look of awe and something raw, something he can't quite place. The younger wolf shakes himself, nodding. 

"Yea. Yea, they're still down there. We think he- we think he broke another bone." 

Woojin swears. "How bad is it?"

Changbin makes a face. "Minho can only see part of him, but Jisung says based on the blood smell that he's getting weaker."

Woojin leaves, followed closely by Changbin, hurrying down the steps. Jisung looks up from where he’s leaning against the wall at the base of the landing, relief filling his features.

"Woojin!" He whisper shouts, launching himself into the older's arms for a moment. "Thank the stars."

"Sungie. My brave, brave Sungie." Woojin cradles the younger vampire's head into his chest, letting out a sigh. "You've done well babey."

Changbin takes Jisung from his arms as he makes his way down the hallway, hoping he's prepared but knowing he's not. He first sees the spilled baskets of herbs and other odd things, and then Minho, still lying on the ground. The vampire sees the feet and smells blood and is overwhelmed with the need to hold Chan for the rest of both of their extended lives, never letting go.

He's not sure who needs that more at this point. 

Minho looks up as he stands in the doorway. The oldest witch's face is covered in tears, the left side that had been previously pressed against the floor stained with blood. He shakily accepts a hug, clinging to the oldest and letting out a low sob.

"Shhh, Minho. It's going to be okay." He hears shuffling and Minho flinches.

"Channie, please, please don't move. It's okay, it's just Woojin-"

"Woojin!" His voice is called, hardly discernible, muffled through the furniture. He takes Minho's place, and has to hold back a sob.

Chan's got an arm lying, unusable, spread out in front of him. His expression is exhausted, terrified, but when he sees Woojin he whimpers and his fingers twitch.

"Oh love…" he breathes out, taking in the scene before him. "We need to get you out of there, hmm?' Minho's sitting up but leaning against the vampire's extended legs, shaking. Woojin looks up at him.

"We're going to have to lift the furniture off of him." Minho nods, wiping his tears and stumbling for the doorway, calling quietly for the other two to come and help. It takes a few minutes, for Woojin to lull Chan's panic to a calmer state with just his voice, and for them to decide how to shift the furniture.

Chan shrieks when they lift, Jisung nearly dropping his end in shock. They hear panicked scrabbling and Woojin, unthinkingly, ducks under and pushes with his back.

"Channie, I'm right here love. I'm right here! It's okay." His voice catches when he sees why Chan is screaming. "Stop, stop!" The others freeze. "Just, just hold it up, for a second."

The wolf's got his broken arm trapped, somehow through the back of a shelf. Woojin has to tug, and ignore the screaming, the blood, but because he does the arm comes free. "Okay, move it!"

Chan's reaching for him the second its off of him, and Woojin wastes no time in scooping the wolf up into his arms, nor even bothering to see where else the younger is hurt in favor of holding him close. The other three are watching, obviously wanting to come close, but something about their oldest's aura keeps them back.

It's probably for the best. Woojin's whispering soft assurances into the wolf's hair, running the hand not holding the other over his body, checking for all the breaks and wounds. When Minho steps forward to help the older vampire shakes his head, standing with the wolf in his arms and gesturing for them to make way. 

Just like that, when Woojin and Chan leave, the room is quiet, blood and herbs scattered on the floor. Minho sinks to his knees and cries, both of his remaining partners cradling him as he sobs for himself, for his lovers, and most especially for Chan, who's still suffering the most of them all.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It's a several hour process for Woojin and Chan to end up where they are now, limbs tangling in the oldest's room, cuddling on the futon. The beginning was Woojin pacing on the third floor with the wolf in his arms, letting the younger cry and cry and cry. 

Woojin cries, too. He's seen that his partner has been suffering for awhile now, and did nothing. He should have said something, should have reached out more. He knows it's not his fault, nor is it Chan's. No, it's a mess of them all living together, trying to accomodate for one another and struggling, because it's a lot, and no one's perfect.

Chan's tears eventually dry out, and he ends up dry heaving a few times, still crying but unable to produce anymore wet tears. 

"Channie," Woojin croons into the youngers ear, holding him tighter because he fears a few bounces might hurt. "Channie, love, can I look at your wounds now? Please, love." He practically begs when he sees the wolf shake his head. "It needs to be healed, love. It must hurt a lot. Let me help you precious."

The new pet name slips out before he can evaluate if its triggering to Chan or not. But the wolf just melts at the name, pulling back long enough so that the older can look him in the eye. He nods. "Yea? Okay precious, let's get you looked at."

It's been a long time since he's helped heal anyone. It's usually Felix or Jeongin who does it, seeing as Jeongin is currently in his premed residency and Felix has the most experience with healing spells. But Woojin can set bones, wrap wounds and heal a few broken hearts if he needs to.

He sets Chan in the upstairs bathtub, thanking the stars that the witches leave their first aid kits in all the bathrooms on all floors. Chan's shaking in the tub, watching Woojin move around the space with fearful eyes. He approaches the tub with care.

"Can I undress you love?" Chan shakes, but nods, letting the vampire help him out of his torn and bloody clothes. He can see through the dark stains that the wolf is wearing one of his favorite shirts, and vows to get the younger a new one.

He's finally examining the broken arm, trying to decide how he can twist it in a way that's the least painful when there's a knock on the door. Chan freezes, cowering, and Woojin rests a hand on his head. "Shhh Channie, it's alright. Hello?" He calls out, and the door creaks open to show Minho. He's still stained in blood, but he appears calmer. 

"Do you need any help?" Chan's shaking intensifies, but Woojin moves his hand from head to shoulder blades and squeezes.

"Actually, yea. I need to set his arm, can you-" he gestures to the wolf's hand. "Hold his hand for me, please?" Minho nods and comes the rest of the way in, leaving the door open and replacing Woojin's hand with his.

"Hi Channie." Chan refuses to meet Minho's gaze, instead watching the oldest as he turns the broken arm a few different ways, clearly deliberating what to do.

The vampire catches the wolf watching him, and he smiles kindly. "This is gonna hurt Channie. You gonna be okay?" Chan nods and the smile widens. "Alright precious. Let's get this back into place."

If Minho's surprised by the new pet name he doesn't get to show it, quickly having to toss a spell into the room that gives him extra strength to keep Chan down. The wolf is screaming, tears streaming down his face as he struggles, trying to escape both of his partner's holds.

Woojin continues going through all the bones before he finally manages to pop the last bone into place, heaving out a sigh and trying not to put his weight atop the wolf. Chan is hiccuping, squeezing Minho's hand tightly, but when the older finishes he jerks his hand free and reaches for the vampire. Woojin takes him into his arms without question, and Minho's heart aches. 

At one point, having one of his partner's cause him pain would have resulted with him avoiding them. It shows how much he's changed, and how much he trusts their eldest. 

Minho leaves the bathroom, not even sure that the two of them notice. Woojin does, but he doesn't look away from Chan, whose clinging to him like he's the wolf's life source. And maybe he is; as scary as it could be, Woojin supposes with all that has happened to the younger he needs someone to hang onto. He's fine with being that person.

Woojin adjusts his grip so he's kneeling in the tub, Chan sitting on his lap, legs wrapped around the older’s waist. He rocks them back and forth, singing quietly, knowing the wolf likes it when he does. The younger is calming down slowly, hiccuping subsiding into tiny sniffs of breath, sinuses causing him to struggle to breathe. 

"Can I help you get clean now, love?" Woojin pitches his voice as deep as it will go, hoping to keep the wolf in this lulled state. Chan nods, clearly too drained to try to talk. "Alright precious, let's wipe off all this blood and go cuddle, how's that sound?" 

The vampire makes quick work of the cleaning, knowing that a shower or bath would trigger another panic attack that neither of them would be able to handle. He tosses their clothes and dirty towels into a pile by the door before carrying Chan out and down the hallway, both of them naked, but clean.

The eldest helps the other into clean clothes, his clean clothes, before fluffing up some pillows and pulling the futon out into a bed. They lay down, Chan resting on the vampire's chest, Woojin letting his hands cradle the back of the wolf's head and an upper thigh. 

It's quiet, so quiet that Woojin thinks the younger has fallen asleep. There's a steady rise and fall from the wolf's chest, and the fan in the corner whirrs continuously, letting the older breathe for a few moments. He doesn't know what drove Chan to be behind the tv stand. He wants to ask, but he knows that now isn't the time, even if the wolf were to say he was fine with talking about it.

Something that Woojin has learned over time is that each of his partner's deal with their trauma and shitty experiences differently. Chan, especially, is one of the worst, burying his pain out of habit so that he doesn't realize it's there, waiting for him to fall apart and burden him all at once. He knows if he asks now it won't help either of them.

Plus, he has a sinking suspicion that he knows what happened, and hates himself for letting the situation get out of control to end up like this. Chan certainly can't get a handle on himself, and neither can the coven. He needs to be better, for all of them, so this doesn't happen to this extreme again.

He lets Chan sleep, and while the wolf sleeps, he thinks, and he plans.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

After a quick discussion Woojin, Jisung, Changbin and Minho had agreed that they should call and tell the rest of the coven to come back home. When Felix answers Woojin says that something has happened and they should come if they can, but doesn’t elaborate.

Chan is still sleeping upstairs in the eldest's room when Felix and the others get back. Woojin and those who stayed are all seated in the living room, waiting. When the rest come in they immediately sense the somber mood and their joy at being back home diminishes to worry.

"Woojin? Minho? What happened?" Felix addresses the two eldest in the room, falling back into his coven leader role with ease. The rest sit on the couch, watching as Changbin and Jisung hug each other tightly, watching as Minho and Woojin exchange a glance. The oldest witch is the one who starts.

"We had an- an incident earlier," Minho starts, the coven members tensing in concern. Felix frowns.

"What do you mean, an incident?" 

"Chan got stuck under the tv stand in the den and broke some bones." Jeongin gasps, rising to his feet.

"Is he okay?" 

"He's fine now, physically." It's Woojin who responds. The aura around the eldest in the coven is especially somber, and he offers no other reply. 

"Minho kept him calm while Woojin teleported home," Jisung added from his perch off to the side. "We've cleaned the room, but it still smells like blood and fear, so it'll need to be aired out this weekend."

Felix sucks in a breathe. "Fuck. Are you guys okay?" Three nods, Minho's hesitant. Woojin remains immoveable. "Woojin?"

"I'm fine, but we need to talk. All of us," he adds, as Changbin makes to go get something from the kitchen. At the eldest’s words he freezes before sitting back down again.

Their coven leader must see something through Woojin's cold aura because he nods and says, "The space is yours, Woojin" before sitting down next to Jeongin. The youngest still seems startled by the vampire’s behavior. Frankly, they all are, or at least all the ones who just got back.

Woojin takes in a breath, seeming to calm himself down, before he speaks. 

"We need to set boundaries with Chan again, and this time, stick with them, no matter what he says." 

Seungmin frowns. "But he's doing better."

"He's not." Woojin's voice takes on an icy tone, silencing all disagreement. "He had an episode that left him stuck under a piece of furniture, panicking and breaking his own bones, not responding to Minho at all. He’s still healing from his last coven!” Woojin takes a breath, noticing that the coven is so quiet you could hear a ghost walk through the room. “I know we have this unspoken rule that he trusts me the most, so you’ve let him ask for me or cuddle with me. But I think it needs to be concrete. No, I’m not done,” the vampire adds when Felix tries to cut him off.

“He’s still dealing with trauma from his previous coven, and whether or not he realizes it, hanging off of you all this last week and a half? That was self harm.” Someone makes a horrified sound but the eldest pushes on. “He’s unable to decide what is and isn’t helpful because he was put from one situation into another. Just because we’re kind and good for him doesn’t mean we’re all good for him at once. The fact that we’re a pack and operate like one makes it harmful for him. He needs to spend time with individuals. No, let me fucking finish!” 

Jeongin’s words of protest are lost under Woojin’s explosion. The oldest is pissed, teeth sharpening in his mouth as he snaps. Felix’s eyes widen, but it’s Minho who crosses the room and lays an arm on the vampire. 

“Woojin, we’re listening. We won’t interrupt you, promise.” Jeongin is cuddled between Seungmin and Hyunjin, all three of them looking at the vampire like they’ve never seen him before. Minho’s hand shaking on the older’s shoulders is what brings him back to himself. He blinks, once, twice, and his eyes go back to their usual shade of dark brown. 

“Sorry. But you need to understand that our feelings, while valid, aren’t what’s at stake here. Under normal circumstances Chan should be isolated with people to help him, but right now he just has us. We have got to allow for that. A day is fine, is great, even. But over a week of letting you all do as you pleased with him? Bad.” Felix drops his head in his hands as he mulls over what’s being laid out for the coven to see. 

“We helped Jisung when he needed to be kept to a few members at a time when he was learning to control his instincts, right? It’s the same concept. You all can interact with Chan, spend time with him, but only when one of his people is there to monitor it. We can’t let this happen again. We can’t.” The “I won’t let this happen again” goes unspoken, but the whole coven hears it. 

“Okay. Okay.” Felix raises his head and sighs. “Who should the people be, besides you?” 

“Jeongin,” Jisung votes. 

“Felix,” Minho says.

“Minho,” Changbin tries, but the witch shakes his head.

“He completely shut down when I tried to talk with him. I can’t help him with where he is right now.” Woojin nods, taking the hand that’s still on his shoulder in both of his own.

“You did well with what you could, Minnie. Don’t forget that.” Minho nods and allows Woojin to drag him into the older’s lap, laying his head on the vampires shoulder and biting off tears. 

“I’m sorry.” The apology startles everyone to look up and see Hyunjin watching the eldest. “I should’ve known that something was wrong when you and he weren’t interacting.” 

“No, Hyunjin-” 

“We were so excited that he wanted to spend time with us that we forgot,” Seungmin mused. “He may be older, but he’s certainly not wiser.” Changbin snorts and then groans, Jisung elbowing the wolf in his side. 

Woojin laughs lightly. “Yes, that’s very true.” 

“Do we need to take him out of his job?” Felix is watching Woojin. The coven leader seems to be content with letting the eldest make the decisions on this issue. 

Woojin nods. “For now. I’ll cover for him” Felix shakes his head.

“No, we all will. He’s one of us; ours. We’ll all pay.” He pointedly looks at everyone, daring anyone to disagree, but they all nod. 

“Should he get moved to your bedroom?” Jeongin doesn’t seem pleased by the idea, but he asks anyways. Woojin shrugs. 

“I still need to talk with him. I’ve just let him sleep since I cleaned him up. He had a nightmare right before you guys got back. Took a little bit to calm him down.” Woojin squeezes Minho, watching the witch with worried eyes. “Minnie, did you get any sleep?” 

Hyunjin immediately rises, taking the hint, with Jisung and Changbin in tow. “Minho, you need rest!” They lead the witch to one of their rooms, leaving Seungmin, Jeongin, Felix and Woojin in the room. Seungmin glances between all of them before sighing and rising to his feet, also leaving the room so that the remaining three can talk. 

Jeongin still seems concerned. “Aren’t we taking over his life, without asking for his decisions?” 

“He knew it was wrong,” Woojin murmured. “He told me himself. But he wants to please everyone, so he said nothing.” Jeongin blanches and says nothing more. 

“Alright. Let us know when we’re needed,” Felix says. Jeongin leaves to go into the kitchen, and Woojin gestures for the coven leader to follow him upstairs. 

They’re met with the sight of Chan watching the door with sleepy eyes. When they enter the eldest’s room, he sighs. 

“Did you tell them?” Chan addresses Woojin, who nods, sitting on the edge of the futon. Felix crouches on the floor near the wolf’s face, smiling up at the older. 

“Hi Channie. Heard you had a little scare.” The older flushes, but nods. “I’m glad Woojinnie was here to help you.” He looks up at Woojin before he adds, “Woojinnie can fill you in, but the coven’s decided that it’d be best if you just spent time with Woojin, Jeongin and I only, or with one of in the room when you are with other members of the coven. Is that okay with you?” 

Chan blinks, but he nods. “That’s fine. I….I know what I did wasn’t good, but I didn’t know how to stop.” He looks at the coven leader sadly. “I’m sorry.” 

“No darling, it’s alright. We’re all learning here.” Felix presses a kiss to the wolf’s temple before pulling back. “It’ll take some getting used to, but we want you to be doing a bit better, and not feeling like you need to isolate yourself.” 

Chan settles back under the covers with a hum. Felix must decide he’s said enough because he kisses Woojin swiftly before leaving the two alone in the room. 

The wolf accepts the vampire back under the covers, smiling against the older’s neck. “Did you yell at them? I heard you speaking louder than normal, with the vibrations and all.” 

Woojin laughs. “Didn’t mean to. Care a lot about you love, and my emotions got the best of me.” 

“Your emotions are what make you good though.” Woojin raises his eyebrows at the wolf, questioning. “You care, even though I’m taking so long to heal.” 

The older lets out a stunned noise. “Channie...is that how you feel, love? That you’re taking too long to heal?” 

Chan shrugs, motions halted on one side where the wolf is partially laying down. “Aren’t I? You all aren't going to wait around forever.” 

Woojin can hear the “You aren’t going to wait around forever” and feels his heart break. 

“I’m always going to be here precious, I promise.” Chan shakes his head but Woojin catches the younger’s cheeks in both of his palms, gently cradling the wolf’s face and turning him so the younger is looking at him in the eye. “I’m old, Channie. But I’m not old enough to have lost patience. I’m not going anywhere.” 

Chan’s eyes slide to the side, looking at something on the far wall. “It’s because you’ve been around so long that you’ll get tired of me, though. I’m not someone to spend time with. I’m just a burden.” 

Woojin hums, acknowledging but not agreeing with the younger’s thoughts. “I like to think of it with the mindset that I’ve been waiting all this time to meet you, and now that I have I’m going to spend the rest of our time together making sure you’re safe, and happy.” 

The wolf chokes on his next inhale, eyes filling with tears but Woojin doesn’t let him go, and Chan cracks, again, crying silently as the older holds him in his arms. 

They’re going to be okay. Eventually. But they’re going to be okay; all of them.

**Author's Note:**

> WELL that was fun wasn't it ? :") yea no i cried too, dw
> 
> uhhhhh let's see. this is the part 2 of my "[peachy werewolf au](https://woojinsjf.tumblr.com/tagged/peachy-werewolf-au)" aka the au that my friend [jo](https://changbinie.tumblr.com) n i are collabing on. her au is a syfy au while this is mine ! i listened to [all of these songs](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3FuvYmwjTre2C7ZQdkzIwK?si=0fYdJ7kNQMSaEocV5rBxcA) while i wrote this, so if u wanna give it a listen, would be nice (that spotify account has the other playlists i've made public for a few of my aus/fics if ur interested in that too).
> 
> i originally had plans to finish another fic but instead was talking with jo n a few things we talked abt hit me in my gut n i ended up writing 2k at midnight, sitting my ass down on the kitchen floor i was so fucking inspired bashfsd but yea, finished the rest when i woke up, spent a while mulling over a scene only to pull it out, n then edited this fucker. i hope someone enjoyed! 
> 
> it'd make my day <strike>my week actually</strike> if someone swung by n told me they read this over on [my tumblr](https://woojinsjf.tumblr.com), but otherwise, happy reading, n until the next fic, stay safe lovelies <3


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